


The Ballad of Loyal Betyar

by irhinoceri



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Mabari, Skyhold (Dragon Age), The Hissing Wastes, just let me adopt the dog bioware
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:13:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26588683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irhinoceri/pseuds/irhinoceri
Summary: The Inquisition gains a mascot. A good boy is finally allowed to rest.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	The Ballad of Loyal Betyar

The dog could be found in many places in Skyhold. Playing fetch in the yard with Sera, listening attentively to Varric read bits of his current work in progress out loud (giving feedback in the form of yip and grunts), getting belly rubs from Blackwall in the stables, begging for scraps in the kitchen, watching over sick patients in the infirmary, or trotting along on the heels of the Inquisitor as they made their daily rounds around the castle, just to name a few.

Most often, Betyar liked to sit by the merchant’s stalls. Bonny Sims was delighted by his ability to make change for customers and watch the cart when she needed a break. Farris sniffed and said he would damage the books with his drool, but could sometimes be seen giving him a scratch behind the ears nonetheless.

Maryden decided to write him a song, inspired by the tale the Inquisitor told about how they came across the hound in the Hissing Wastes, all alone in an abandoned camp at the back end of a canyon, guarding his deceased master’s wares from giant spiders. You might have heard the song if you visited Herald’s Rest, or caught snatches of the refrain being sung by workers going about their day:

_ O brave Mabari… _

_ Your watch has ended, _

_ O Loyal Betyar… _

_ Come lay by the fire, _

_ So steadfast and true… _

_ He’s not coming back for you, _

_ Slayer of spiders… _

_ Rest now, come have a bone. _

_ Up where the sky is held, _

_ Will be your new home. _

No one really knew how long Betyar had waited for his master, though when the Inquisitor had found the body of the unfortunate merchant, lying at the overlook beside a dead gurn, it had been scoured by the wind and sands until it was merely a skeleton in armor.

Betyar would not leave the camp until they brought his master’s bones back.

They gave the man a proper Andrastan funeral at his campsite, not knowing what else would be most fitting. They knew nothing of him, besides the note he had left behind instructing visitors to do business with Betyar. They knew the name of the dog but not the man. No one knew what had induced him to set up shop in the Hissing Wastes, with only a few hunters and explorers traveling through the region. Only Betyar knew that.

They put the ashes into a spare Dwarven jar, since there were so many of those scattered around the area, and labeled it “Betyar’s Master.” After that, the hound had allowed the Inquisition forces to pack up the items the dead man had been selling, and even trotted along behind them as they went back to their nearest camp.

There was nothing else to do besides bring Betyar back to Skyhold, after that.

“What was I supposed to do, just  _ leave  _ him there?” said the Inquisitor, showing the newest member of the Inquisition off to Horsemaster Dennet.

“Aye, he’s a good Fereldan hound, no doubt,” said Dennet. “Doesn’t belong in that desert hellhole.” He didn’t need any persuading to agree to take the dog in and give him a place to sleep in the stables. They put the jar with his master’s ashes in an empty horse stall and it became Betyar’s stall after that.

Years later it was said that the hound went back to the Hinterlands with Dennet after the war with Corypheus was over. Rumor has it that Leliana was able to find the merchant’s next of kin, upon the Inquisitor’s request. Varric claimed, in his book about the Inquisition, that the hound set up his own shop in rebuilt Haven, but everyone knows that one probably isn’t true. Others say the hound became the steadfast companion of the Inquisitor and travels with them to this day.

Everyone who passed through Skyhold during the dark times has a Betyar story. There are as many theories about what happened to Betyar as there are stories of what happened to the Hero of Ferelden and their stalwart mabari, for Maryden’s song reached into the farthest corners of Thedas, and everyone everywhere loves a good dog. It's a good story. The Ballad of Loyal Betyar tells the tale of a dog who stood sentinel for his master even after death, who persevered all alone against the terrible spiders until, at last, he found a home.


End file.
